episode_0150

Broken tables and grumpy men strewn about.

I felt bitter at the sight of a mess that seemed impossible to escape no matter how nicely it was packaged.

“You did a good job thinking.”

Throwing a bottle and breaking the leader’s head wasn’t a very good choice.

Some of the guys couldn’t accept reality and rushed in, but the rest ran away at high speed.

“Haa··· ”

I sigh involuntarily at the same feeling as the chaos that comes into view.

It would have been better if it had been handled cleanly, but there was a high probability that information would leak from the guys who escaped.

Then, it was obvious that it would reach the ears of the criminal organizations secretly operating in the underground city.

“But fortunately, his identity is hidden, so I guess I should take comfort in the fact that things won’t get any worse.”

Since my identity is hidden by an artifact, there is no need to worry about my identity being revealed as a warrior.

If we don’t know the true identity of this place, it’s possible that we could dismiss it as a simple commotion.

Of course, it was inevitable that alertness would rise, but the plan had not yet been ruined.

Squeak-

When I went back up the stairs I came from and went outside, I couldn’t find the guys who ran away, or even the man who had been soliciting customers.

Only the traces of fallen trees that had been used as makeshift platforms indicated that they had escaped.

“Look here.”

As I was thinking about returning to the inn and consulting with Agnes, I heard an old man’s voice.

I turned my head in the direction of the sound and there was a gloomy old man looking up at me.

“···”

An old man in the underground city.

It is not easy for an ordinary old man to survive in this den of criminals.

In fact, it is nearly impossible for an old person to survive here with a sincere heart.

Moreover, his extremely gloomy atmosphere was stimulating my sense of vigilance.

“Hey, can’t you hear? You look fine on the outside.”

The old man’s characteristically unpleasant voice mixed with a rattling noise is heard again in my ears.

Naturally, there is no respect for elders here.

On the contrary, what if you attack a weak old man?

That meant that the old man in front of me was not ordinary.

“I can hear it.”

“Kikki… Looks like you managed to survive by going down there.”

The old man moved his eyes up and down with a laugh that felt bizarre.

A physiological disgust welled up in me at the sight of a cesspool-dwelling rat crawling across my skin.

We only exchanged a few words, but I felt an unpleasant feeling I had never felt before.

The feeling of irritation was so strange that I couldn’t explain it.

“I need someone like you right now. Could you help me out a little?”

Two thoughts crossed my mind at that moment.

A trap or an invitation.

But it was a little too blatant to lure someone back into a trap after they had just caused a scene.

“Unfortunately, I’m busy, so that might be difficult.”

“It looks like you came here for a purpose, but wouldn’t it be a problem if it was known that you caused a commotion?”

His cloudy eyes were filled with confidence.

It’s not common for someone to have enough money and power to fall into a trap.

Most nobles and merchants who came to places like this usually hired escorts.

So, even if you don’t know the exact identity, it wouldn’t have been difficult to guess the general identity.

“If it’s a threat, it doesn’t seem like a good idea. Especially to someone who just made a mess.”

When he was met with a sharp and mean gaze, the corners of his mouth went up so high that it almost seemed as if they were going to burst.

“Kekekeke··· Just a little while is enough. Just a little while.”

“People who say things like that are usually scammers.”

“If you help me a little, I will help you achieve your goal. Wouldn’t it be better for both of us to benefit in order to get ahead?”

It was clear that the old man thought I was a dispatched knight.

His judgment was sharp, considering that there were knights who came to him for information like Agnes.

Actually, it almost fits.

But that doesn’t mean I can just grab his hand.

“Besides, I can guess why you came here.”

“Hmm··· If you can get that right, I might be able to help you.”

Despite the lukewarm response, the old man continued speaking leisurely.

“Maybe the reason you came here is because of the guys that showed up recently.”

For a moment, my body flinched at the old man’s sharp reasoning.

Just guessing that it would be a knight, he was reaching surprisingly accurate conclusions.

“What is the basis for thinking so?”

“Well··· I just thought that there was no other reason for the country to send a knight, since there was no particular incident. Unless the old queen suddenly wanted to clean up criminals.”

“I guess you didn’t age in vain.”

The old man in front of me was starting to feel like a cunning old monster.

I looked around calmly and saw what appeared to be bodyguards watching closely as if they could rush in at any moment.

“I’m also having a headache because of those guys. I think we can handle it easily if we join hands···”

“I guess I get the gist of it.”

“So··· what’s the answer? Young man.”

Since I had already been caught, it was pointless to investigate on my own.

I didn’t really want to join hands with a person who wasn’t a very good person, but cooperating with him was the best way to achieve my goal quickly.

“Since our goals are the same, there is no need to go far.”

“You’re quite a sensible friend. I thought all knights were old-fashioned guys.”

The old man laughed heartily with his wrinkled face.

“We’re fully prepared to hit those guys. And if someone like you joins us, our casualties will be reduced. Follow me.”

He made a slight gesture and began to walk ahead.

A thought crossed my mind as to whether I should consult Agnes, but my instinctive annoyance told me there was no need.

The original purpose was a simple investigation, but since it has come to this, it might not be a bad idea to just suppress it.

‘Why don’t you just say that you investigated and subdued them? Then you can enjoy sightseeing leisurely from now on.’

As I followed the old man with leisurely thoughts, I could feel first-hand why Agnes had said that the underground city was complicated.

There are countless secret passages that even the people who live here might not know about.

After walking and walking for a long time, we arrived at a hidden door that was difficult to see.

“This is where I gather my men.”

A stone door so worn that it is difficult to tell if it is a naturally formed handle.

In a complex underground city, it might have been considered ordinary, but the air flowing out from within was not like that.

“Haaa···”

“What’s going on?”

The old man looked at me with a puzzled expression for a moment, but his cold instincts did not feel it was worth answering.

The strong smell of blood seeping out through the cracks in the tightly closed door.

Ordinary people might not be able to sense it, but their sense of smell, heightened by mana, could tell exactly that it was the scent of human blood.

The smell of blood coming from the almost completely sealed door meant that there was a sea of blood inside the door.

‘I got hit before I could even try.’

Judging from the old man’s reaction, the one who was hurt was his subordinate.

And given the circumstances, it was easy to see who had attacked the old man’s men.

An opponent that even seasoned criminals with years of experience in the underground city can’t handle.

If it came out this clearly, it was almost certain that the nobles were behind it.

“Then say hello. My subordinate··· ”

The old man opened the door but stopped in his tracks, as if frozen in place.

As expected, the spacious space was a place where a terrible disaster had occurred.

The corpses lying around were proof of how many subordinates the old man had under his command.

But that was a thing of the past, and now it was known only as a corpse.

“Later than expected.”

A voice that is deep yet somehow distorted.

Anyone who heard it would know that it was not a sound that would come from a human vocal cord.

The being, whose entire body was wrapped tightly in cloth, slowly turned its body and revealed its face.

“Hmm··· Things are getting a lot more annoying than I expected.”

An appearance that seems to have been forcibly combined with a turtle and a human.

For a moment, it reminded me of a turtle character I had seen as a child, but its face was too grotesque to return me to the world of childhood.

The guy who I could tell was a monster at a glance stared at me with calm eyes.

“I don’t need to explain why I’m here.”

“It seems like I have a bad relationship with the Demon King.”

The sound of the sword being pulled from its scabbard echoed clearly throughout the surroundings.

The guy took up a fighting stance, wielding two swords in his thick, rough hands.